When the whistle blew to end last season's FA Cup final, Manchester United's players slumped to the floor. Beaten by their neighbours, who went on to win the treble, it wasn't the dream ending the Reds had hoped for and you could be forgiven for thinking there was an element of exhaustion as well as disappointment on that May evening.
United had played a mammoth 62 games across four competitions, and it could have been higher had they reached the Europa League final instead of losing in the last eight.
The Reds were not alone in their hectic workload with City playing one match more and West Ham also facing a heavy workload amid European successes.
The winter World Cup didn't help as the fixture list was condensed to fit the tournament in while the likes of United had plenty of representatives in Qatar.